Fort Bend Care Center provides asset-based approach to meet community needs

Nonprofit Fort Bend Care Center grew from a group of local church members who wanted to help the community recover from Hurricane Harvey.

The gist

Evolving from a ministry of the Fort Bend Community Church, the organization became an independent nonprofit in March 2018 to meet the community's long-term needs, President Mei Wong said.

The organization currently occupies space in the Missouri City church, where volunteers and staff aim to provide a holistic approach to community development programs. Now, officials plan to fundraise $5.6 million to construct a 14,000-square-foot facility on the church’s property to expand the nonprofit's services.

“Our goal is to build them up and transform them so that they can be healthy, viable and gainfully employed,” Program Director Lily Shih said.

What it does

With help of more than 700 volunteers, the faith-based nonprofit provides the Fort Bend County community with literacy, health care, education, spiritual and wellness programs, Wong said. Offerings include:

• A weekly food market through a partnership with the Houston Food Bank
• Enrichment programs for children
• On-site health services from AccessHealth, a federally qualified health center
• Adult literacy programs, such as language courses, GED preparation and job skills training
• An annual event providing free vision screenings and eyewear for about 700 local students

Vilma Toledo said she began using the center's services six years ago as an English learning student. Now, as one of four part-time staff members, Toledo helps translate for Spanish-speaking clients.

Shih said this feeds into the nonprofit's mission to lean on community strengths and provide asset-based community development.

Why it matters

The demand for the center's food services has grown over time, leading to the food market increasing in frequency from monthly to weekly, Shih said. About 100 families register weekly for the food market, with the nonprofit distributing over 30,000 pounds of produce monthly.

A bulk of food market clients come from ZIP codes east of Missouri City, such as Fresno, Arcola and Rosharon, Shih said. These areas are considered food deserts, she said, indicating it's difficult for a large percentage of residents to access affordable or quality fresh food.

“They’re everywhere in the county,” Shih said. “There’s pockets in Rosharon, pockets in Richmond and definitely big pockets in East Fort Bend.”

How to help

The organization launched its capital campaign last fall for the new building. This will allow Fort Bend Care Center to expand its services with tuition-free early childhood education courses for ages 3-5, Wong said.

“We realized this is a very important way to prepare the next generation, because for the entry-level kindergarten, actually half of these kids do not meet the standard level to enter kindergarten, so we really want to close that gap,” she said.

The center will also include spaces for:

• Meeting rooms and offices
• Adult education courses
• A permanent food market with refrigerated items

The nonprofit is accepting donations through its website for the capital campaign, with the goal of starting construction later this year upon reaching 70% of the fundraising goal, Wong said.

“We can be a hub. When they come here, they can get food, they can get health care, they can get education," Shih said. "Now that we're established, we know the spaces we need."

• 7707 Hwy. 6 S., Missouri City
• www.fortbendcarecenter.org